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Back to school, "Give Back," and Masses, Masses, Masses. Look at some of our favorite memories of September 2017 in our new photo gallery.

D'Youville College celebrated its first inauguration in 38 years at Kleinhans Music Hall on Sept. 29, marking a 'passing of the torch' from former president, Sister Denise Roche, GNSH, to Lorrie Clemo, Ph.D. Clemo has been serving in the role of D'Youville's president since last December, with plans to make the college a leader in developing health professional leaders. "That is our goal going forward," Clemo said.

Little Portion Friary, the quiet house on Main Street just a little north of Buffalo's Medical Campus, serves people in need. But right now, the friary has a need of its own - volunteers.

It's fascinating to think that the first social service organization brought to Buffalo by its first bishop is still around, going stronger than ever 170 years later. The St. Vincent de Paul Society came to the Diocese of Buffalo in 1847, just after Bishop John Timon was named its first bishop. Bishop Timon had heard of the charitable organization while visiting Ireland and brought it first to St. Louis, where he served in the late 1830s.

Today, several dozen bishops across the United States are joining Pope Francis as he launched the two-year "Share the Journey" campaign, holding events and reaching out to support migrants and refugees in their own dioceses as the campaign aims to raise awareness about their plight worldwide.

The year 1967 is remembered as teeming with violence, milestones and setbacks in race relations, and the beginning of a youth culture. The year saw the Summer of Love and germ warfare, the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court and race riots on Buffalo's East Side. Bishop Karol Wojtyla is ordained a cardinal and abortion is legalized in the United Kingdom. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band issued a new progression of popular music, while a group of new priests in the Diocese of Buffalo became the first group to be trained and educated at St. John Vianney Seminary.

Bishop Edward M. Grosz, Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo, will be the main celebrant and homilist at the annual Respect Life Mass on Sunday, October 1, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo.

STREAM brings many elements into the classroom through partnerships with local cultural institutions. These partnerships allow students to both visit the wonderful institutions in the Western New York area and have them come into diocesan schools.

In October, the Diocesan Revival will be sponsored by the Office of Cultural Diversity's Diocesan African-American Commission. The theme of the Revival this year is "Shut Up and Just Listen, Jesus Has Something to Say."

NIAGARA FALLS — The week of Aug. 7-11 was a flurry of activity as the St. Vincent de Paul Parish Center was transformed into Snowflake Station. During Vacation Bible School Week, the program Operation Arctic Adventure was used, and over 35 children learned about the "coolest book on the planet," the Bible.

A hundred people gathered at Christ the King Seminary, in East Aurora, Friday to hear more about Buffalo's first bishop. Bishop John Timon established the Diocese of Buffalo in 1847 and over the next 20 years laid a groundwork for many of the hospitals, schools and missions which still serve the diocese to this day. To commemorate his legacy on the 150th anniversary of his death, Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora hosted a four-hour conference in the seminary's main dining room.

In the throes of addiction, not one facet of the victim's life is left unaffected. Everything from familial and personal relationships to daily tasks are impacted. Knowing that, the Chemical Dependency Treatment Program of Catholic Charities' Monsignor Carr Institute seeks to treat the whole person - both physically and mentally. Catholic Charities Chemical Dependency Treatment Program, housed at 76 W. Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo, is a New York state OASAS licensed outpatient program that provides services to adolescents, adults and families where substance use/abuse is an ongoing concern.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, is calling all creatures great and small for a blessing of animals on his front lawn. The blessing will take place at 77 Oakland Place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 30, to mark the upcoming Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Area judges, lawyers and public officials of all faiths gathered at St. Joseph Cathedral on Wednesday to take part in the annual Red Mass, celebrated by Bishop Richard J. Malone who urged all in attendance to look at their legal profession as a calling.

In October, the diocesan Holy Name Society, part of one of the oldest confraternities in the Catholic Church, will be holding its annual awards banquet to honor clergy, religious and laypeople in the community who have gone above and beyond in service and dedication to the Church, society and the diocesan community as a whole. It will take place Sunday, Oct. 15, at Kiebzak's Restaurant and Beginnings Banquet, 38 Crocker St. in Sloan, with refreshments beginning at 5 p.m. and family style dinner at 6 p.m.

After nearly 15 years at the helm of Catholic Health, Joe McDonald, the health system's longest tenured president & CEO, has announced plans to retire. While an exact timetable has not been set, McDonald plans to remain on to help transition his successor, which is expected during the first quarter of 2018. A committee, made up of representatives of Catholic Health's Corporate Members, Sponsors, Board of Directors and Medical Staff, is leading the search process for a new president & CEO.

Six Sisters of Mercy are celebrating their jubilees this year during a Mass on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. at the Mercy Center Chapel, 625 Abbott Road, Buffalo. The Rev. William Bigelow will celebrate and music will be provided by the Sisters of Mercy and Mercy Associate Choir.

Six men from varied backgrounds promised Bishop Richard J. Malone they would discharge the office of deacon with humble charity in order to assist the priestly order and to benefit the Christian people. Finding them worthy, Bishop Malone accepted them and ordained these men as deacons of the Catholic Church. Four men continue their formation to the priesthood, while two - Edward Birmingham and Kenneth Monaco - will remain members of the Permanent Diaconate.

Father Walter Grabowski was named pastor of St. Gabriel Parish, Elma, effective Sept. 1. The previous pastor, Father Daniel Palys, retired at the end of January 2017. Father Grabowski's new assignment is for a term of six years. He had been serving as pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish, Eden, and Holy Spirit Parish, North Collins.

EAST AURORA - The annual fall campaign for Christ the King Seminary will be held in September throughout the Diocese of Buffalo, with a goal of $350,000. President-Rector Father Joseph Gatto said funds raised will help support the seminary's mission to educate sponsored candidates for the priesthood, as well as permanent deacons, and religious and lay ministers enrolled in graduate programs. The campaign will also help focus attention on the many activities that take place at the seminary year-round.

Bishop John Timon, the first bishop of Buffalo, will be the topic of a conference commemorating his legacy on the 150th anniversary of his death. Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora will host the conference on Friday, Sept. 22 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the seminary's main dining room. Bishop Richard J. Malone will open the afternoon with welcome and prayer.

The road to recovery from drug addiction is lined with many hurdles and pitfalls. For the past five years, St. Bonaventure Parish in Allegany has worked with a counseling recovery service to provide a safe passage to sobriety.

Turku, Finland. Barcelona and Cambrils, Spain. Charlottesville, Virginia. Stockholm, Sweden. Paris, France. Manchester and London, England. The Middle East, Africa ... and Buffalo. There are so much more, just in recent months, including 3,000 preborn children's lives snuffed out through abortion every day in the United States.

On Sunday, Sept. 24, Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, 1023 Swann Road, Lewiston, will be the site of the 37th Annual Rosary Crusade for World Peace. The event, which will take place from 2-3:30 p.m., is sponsored by the Niagara Council of Catholic Women of the Diocese of Buffalo. This year's theme is "We thank you, Blessed Mother, for 100 years of love and blessings."

Three organizations in the Diocese of Buffalo have formed a pro-life trinity. The Knights of Columbus and Catholic Health have teamed up with the Office of Pro-Life Activities to bring ultrasound machines to the eight counties of Western New York.

Mount St. Mary Academy represented the United States in an international business competition this summer. Two teams from the Kenmore school's SAGE program went up against school-based businesses from 26 different countries as part of the SAGE World Cup. Both teams, representing for-profit and not-for-profit businesses took home fourth place awards.

Six men will receive the sacrament of holy orders on Saturday, Sept. 16, when Buffalo's Bishop Richard J. Malone ordains the men to the holy order of deacon. Two gentlemen will be permanent deacons and the other four will continue their studies for the priesthood. This special Mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo.

Those laboring to cultivate a culture of life in New York received some good news at the Respect Life in-service sponsored by the Diocese of Buffalo. Bishop Richard J. Malone announced that the New York State Appeals Court affirmed that the current state laws against physician-assisted suicide are constitutional.

WASHINGTON—Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty has issued the following statement in response to the line of questioning directed at a federal judicial nominee earlier this week.

Traditionally in the Northeast, September is the time of year when people of all ages wave goodbye to summer and head back into the classroom. I would bet that, for most of us, youth ministry doesn't even enter our minds when we think about back-to-school. Yet, just like teachers, this is the time when youth ministers gear up to involve, engage and invite young people into the Church.

NIAGARA FALLS — This year, students at Niagara Catholic Jr./Sr. High School will be learning about the many ways the world, and their own school, have changed since 1927. It's a creative way to mark how four different schools spanned nine decades of Catholic education on 66th Street.

"I applaud New York's highest court for upholding the state's prohibition of assisted suicide. We know that we live in a world full of threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life. However, we also know that through prayer, education, responsible citizenship and pastoral care of all human life, especially the most vulnerable and in need of our love, we transform our society into a culture of life.

Educational technology travels at lightning speed. Interactive whiteboards, which took classrooms by storm just a decade ago, have gone the way of the blackboard. The latest teaching tool is the LED touch screen.

After greeting students as they stepped off of school buses on Main Street in Buffalo Wednesday, Bishop Richard J. Malone went inside and joined some of them in a drum session on the first day of classes at St. Joseph University School.

WASHINGTON— The President and Vice President along with Chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued a statement denouncing the Administration's termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after six months. The following statement from USCCB President Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, along with USCCB Vice President, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angles, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, chairman, Committee on Migration, and Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima, chairman of the Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers says the "cancellation of the DACA program is reprehensible." Over 780,000 youth received protection from the DACA program since its inception by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2012. DACA provided no legal status or government benefits but did provide recipients with temporary employment authorization to work in the United States and reprieve from deportation. Full statement follows: "The cancellation of the DACA program is reprehensible. It causes unnecessary fear for DACA youth and their families. These youth entered the U.S. as minors and often know America as their only home. The Catholic Church has long watched with pride and admiration as DACA youth live out their daily lives with hope and a determination to flourish and contribute to society: continuing to work and provide for their families, continuing to serve in the military, and continuing to receive an education. Now, after months of anxiety and fear about their futures, these brave young people face deportation. This decision is unacceptable and does not reflect who we are as Americans. The Church has recognized and proclaimed the need to welcome young people: 'Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me' (Mark 9:37). Today, our nation has done the opposite of how Scripture calls us to respond. It is a step back from the progress that we need to make as a country. Today's actions represent a heartbreaking moment in our history that shows the absence of mercy and good will, and a short-sighted vision for the future. DACA youth are woven into the fabric of our country and of our Church, and are, by every social and human measure, American youth. We strongly urge Congress to act and immediately resume work toward a legislative solution. We pledge our support to work on finding an expeditious means of protection for DACA youth. As people of faith, we say to DACA youth - regardless of your immigration status, you are children of God and welcome in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church supports you and will advocate for you."

With enrollment trending downward in both public and private schools throughout Western New York, private school closings and district consolidations have become common. However, St. Peter School in Lewiston was able to buck this trend by increasing enrollment from a population in the 70s four years ago to a total of 198 students in the 2016-17 year, necessitating renovations to the school building.

While children of all ages tossed rings and bounced in a house behind Our Lady of Victory Basilica, passersby gave to the church by emptying their pockets and piggybanks in front.

You might not know it by driving by, but the small parish of St. Padre Pio in Elba has a very big connection to Fatima, Portugal and its most important visitor. The parish is the first in the United States to have a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. On Aug. 13, St. Padre Pio Parish welcomed Bishop Richard J. Malone to celebrate both the 70th anniversary of the church and the 100th anniversary of the message of Fatima.

Bishop Richard J. Malone shares Pope Francis' ideas on how we can care for the earth every day in the latest episode of "Consider This."

WASHINGTON—In anticipation of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on September 1, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a statement echoing Pope Francis' call that all people, "Christians or not,...should be united in showing mercy to the earth as our common home."